Kruger January 2022: A return after the pandemic and to default Afrikaans

[Tdgraves]

Day 6: Lower Sabie evening drive

 

It was still 30 degrees and joy of joys, the sun was out. We decided on a short drive on the Mlondozi loop as there are lots of birds in this area. We had literally just got out of the gate when we heard the most enormous amount of small bird noise. There were many species shouting and jumping around one of the bushes next to the gate

 

7T4A5919a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5923a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5931a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5934a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5941a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5944a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We later learnt that a huge python had been spotted there.

 

7T4A5946a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5955a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5965a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5970a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A5972a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3010a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

From the OH

 

J19A2980a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A2986a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A2987a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A2996a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3001a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3003a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3039a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3041a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We were on the short side of the roughly square loop when we had our next elephant encounter. Unfortunately, I was driving. Ahead I could see a large bull elephant walking along the road towards us. The vehicle behind it had stopped at a very considerable distance. It was too close to gate closing time to do a U-turn and cover all of the distance on a muddy road to get back to camp and there are no turn offs. So all I could do was to pull over off of the road as much as I could (you are not supposed to drive off road) and wait. I would have liked to turn off the engine, but felt the need to keep my foot over the accelerator, just in case. The vehicle behind us did not leave much space between the two cars and did not attempt to leave any room on the road at all for the elephant. As it got closer, I could see that it was in musth and the adrenaline was now really pumping. He did not show any aggression and was just ambling along the road, but it is difficult to reason with yourself in these situations. As he appeared next to us (huge despite being in a high clearance car), he decided to divert off road to look at a bush and we were free to go. I resisted the urge to speed off!  Unfortunately for the car behind, he then decided that the road was better and they had to reverse and reverse and reverse......

 

Remarkably, despite the delay, we still had a bit of time left before the gates closed and went to Sunset Dam, but there was not much to see or photograph. Back to camp for a braai.

 

[Peter Connan]

It seems to me that elephants are getting more aggressive. I have wondered whether it has to do with their over-population...

 

Some really fine shots here. Especially the Hamerkop.

[Tdgraves]

Thanks @Peter Connan. Hamerkop was tricky - right into the sun

 

i wonder whether it was to do with lockdown? The park was closed for ages and then when it reopened, it was really only local tourism. It was still not back to capacity when we were there, almost two years after the start of the pandemic. Also, with the recent rains and lush grass, I think there may well have been more elephants in the south than usual. There certainly seemed to be more to us, both herds and single males.

[Tdgraves]

Day 7: Lower Sabie morning drive

 

With the stress of reliving the ele encounter, I forgot to mention that we saw a black rhino on the evening drive! Unfortunately no proof as it ran off into the bush, only our second Kruger sighting. We went south to crocodile bridge and then back via the S28. It was 22 degrees up to 28 and quite sunny. It was also windy, which may explain why it was so quiet

 

J19A3059a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3063 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3068a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3070a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3082a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3084a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3086 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3093a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3098 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Again I was driving and we were en route to a dam, when we encountered, yes, you guessed it, another lone male elephant. I stopped well back, but he looked intent on coming up the road towards us, albeit without any malice. but given the narrow road (and yesterday still being fresh in my mind) I reversed and did a three (well, probably more like a nine) point turn and we carried on back towards camp.

 

J19A3105a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3106 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3118 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back for breakfast.

[Tdgraves]

I have been so focused on getting this report done before we go away, I forgot to relay an odd story about our leopard sighting. We had just relocated the leopard in the bush on the airport road, when an OSV from the Selati Lodge approached full of passengers that it had presumably just picked up from the airstrip. We told the guide that there was a leopard within (and it was visible). He acknowledged this and then promptly left without seeing it or showing his guests! I would have that it would have been an easy win to show the new guests the most elusive of the big five, but what do I know? 

[Peter Connan]

On 9/2/2022 at 6:43 PM, Tdgraves said:

Thanks @Peter Connan. Hamerkop was tricky - right into the sun

 

i wonder whether it was to do with lockdown? The park was closed for ages and then when it reopened, it was really only local tourism. It was still not back to capacity when we were there, almost two years after the start of the pandemic. Also, with the recent rains and lush grass, I think there may well have been more elephants in the south than usual. There certainly seemed to be more to us, both herds and single males.

I recently spent a long weekend at a friend's place in Balule, which is in the greater Kruger area.

It is an area I know well and have been visiting all my life.

Firstly, the number of elephant in the area has been and continues to increase. I think I was about 6 or 7 years old before I saw my first elephant. Now, one sees them every day.

Sefondly, my friend bought this little piece of land just 5 years ago. When he bought it, the neighboring farm's camp was practically invisible behind a screen of mature trees. Virtually all those trees, and almost every Marula tree on the property are now gone or badly damaged.

Thirdly, this trip I heard elephant trumpeting several times through the night. Something I have never experienced before.

 

Bear in mind that this area is not open to the general public, only to small lodges and owners. And while traffic has certainly dropped during Covid, I think it has recovered well.

 

In short, I don't have answers, only grave concerns.

[Tdgraves]

Day 7: Birding in camp

 

Probably a bit quieter than on previous occasions. This woodland kingfisher was living around our hut and was always there...

 

J19A3124a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3132a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3135a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3140a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3142a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3153a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3158a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3159a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3164a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3167a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3176a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3181a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3186a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3193a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3199a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3204a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

[Tdgraves]

Day 7: Lower Sabie evening drive

 

It was 28 degrees and windy. We did another loop over the river from camp and it was pretty quiet, although we saw ele and buff and a really good Diederic's cuckoo sighting.

 

J19A3215a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3220a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3226a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3233a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3237a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3269a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3275 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3280 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3287a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

there was a bit more action at sunset dam this evening

 

J19A3322a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3321a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3333a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3340a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3351a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3367a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3375a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back for a braai...

[Tdgraves]

Day 8: Lower Sabie morning drive

 

The morning was cloudy with intermittent rain and was cool at 20 degrees, climbing to 28. We did a loop H5, S25, S170 and then back on the tar road. During this drive we had a novel KNP experience. Usually the OSV from outside of the park will give you a (sometimes friendly) greeting at best. During this drive, we had not one but three stop to ask us what we had seen! A sure sign that game was sparse...

 

7T4A6160a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

This elephant was well behaved

 

7T4A6163a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

This Martial eagle was on a branch over the road and was very obliging. Luckily there was no other traffic

 

00000021a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6173a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

00000026a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6194a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6199a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6230a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6244a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6289a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6336a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6357a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6381a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6391a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

from the OH

 

J19A3459a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We had been attempting to do a bit of a loop, when we encountered this...

 

J19A3531 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

clearly a musth bull, that the little blue car had decided to chase along the road

 

J19A3528a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

For once, the OH was driving and backwards around lots of bends we went. It was a road that we hadn't driven before, but I think we must have been at least 3/4 the way along it. It became clear that he was not going to change his mind, so another three point turn and back the way we came, which the car behind us also did

 

Back for breakfast, where I spotted (rather heard) a new bird - a red-faceed cisticola

 

7T4A6399a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

[Dave Williams]

We noticed the change in Elephant population in the south, and the destruction they cause was huge compared to our October 2019 visit when the Ellies were really only found in large number in the north with hardly a one in the south.

Must admit I'd be happy never to encounter another to be honest. Scary when they block the road then head in your direction, scarier when they suddenly appear out of the bush trumpeting at you!

[Tdgraves]

Day 8: Lower Sabie evening drive

 

It was 28 and sunny when we left, but unfortunately, still windy. We did a loop with the S128 and S129 and it was pretty quiet, although there was a large herd of buffalo and the ubiquitous elephant.

 

7T4A6403a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6404a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6425 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6430 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6448a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6463a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3563a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back via Sunset Dam

 

7T4A6502 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6503 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6509a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6530a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6536a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6574a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6599a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back for a braai

[Tdgraves]

Day 9: Lower Sabie morning drive

 

It was again sunny and windy, 21 rising to 27 degrees. Today we went north towards Skukuza and on the S86. On the tar road, we were flagged down by a an excited staff member on the way to work, who had just seen a leopard. Unfortunately, we never found it, probably driving too far along the road towards the river 

 

7T4A6600a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3598a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3604a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3610a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3617a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3632a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3680a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3698a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3704a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3715a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3725a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3734a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3742a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3755a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3759a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3761a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

I was just about to pull into camp and we could see something up ahead in the road, so I slowly approached, the OH had the camera ready..

 

7T4A6676a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

It was a juvenile bateleur and it took off towards us!

 

7T4A6677a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6682a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6690a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6697a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back to pack up the car and move on....

[Tdgraves]

Day 9: Transfer to Satara

 

As we packed the car up, this monitor lizard appeared

 

J19A3779a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3780a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Before check in we were warned that there was no fuel in camp, as there had been a fire at the petrol station....

 

7T4A6709a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6710a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

It was already clouding over as we left camp and soon after the rain began. We did not make many stops en route to Tshokwane, where we were going to have brunch, but we saw a parked vehicle with the occupants looking into the mid-distance and decided to ask what they had seen. It was the Kruger birding weekend and this group were being guided. They had found a black coucal - a new bird for both them and us!

 

J19A3802 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

we got to the picnic spot and had breakfast, witnessing how bad the vervet monkey problem has become. The "kitchen" is outside and open-sided, so as soon as the staff have their backs turned, the raiding begins - straight from the hob! I would have thought some large mesh "walls" would be a good idea for management. Soon we got back onto the road and came across some baboons playing (courtesy of the OH as I was driving).

 

7T4A6722a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6740a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Soon it was time to check into Satara and unpack, serenaded by black-headed orioles...

 

J19A3829a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

[Tdgraves]

Day 9: Satara evening drive

 

Yet again it was 28 degrees and cloudy. We went along the S100 and it was probably the quietest drive ever on this usually busy route

 

J19A3880a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3896a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3901a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3903a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A3906a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

From the OH

 

7T4A6752a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6771a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back to camp to try the recently opened Cattle Baron restauraant.

[Tdgraves]

Day 10: Satara morning drive

 

The weather was very varied as the drive progressed. It started sunny, then cloudy, then rained. We ended up doing a very long drive down to the S126 to the picnic site, up the S39 to the Timbavati picnic site and then the S128. Surprise. surprise, it was pretty quiet again, but we again saw eles and buff.

 

7T4A6788a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6792a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6794a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6796a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6798a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6803 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6807a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We came across a family of ground hornbills, which appeared to be playing. Unfortunately it had clouded over and they were a little far away, but I tried to capture the action...

 

7T4A6817a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6831a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6835a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6846a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6862a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6872a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6911a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6930a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6938 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6943 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6945a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

After a refreshment break at the Timbavati picnic site, we were crossing west to east to get back onto the tar road to camp, when we spotted this....

 

7T4A6954a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We would never have seen it, had it not stopped to use the tree trunk as a look out

 

7T4A6961a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A6976a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

I put the extender on as it was quite far away, but I wasn't that impressed with the results

 

7T4A6995a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7022a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

It stayed for a while, scouting out the area. Another vehicle eventually arrived, but only just before it jumped down into the long grass and we lost it. Our first cat for a week!

[TonyQ]

Well done with the Cheetah some lovely photos (interesting what you say about the extender)

The hornbills sequence is really good, and the Coucal is a beauty.

[Tdgraves]

Thanks @TonyQ of course, I only posted the half-decent ones!

[Tdgraves]

Day 10: Satara around camp

 

lots of birds here today

 

7T4A7052 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7058 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7049a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7063a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7070a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

the babblers were bringing up these cuckoos...

 

7T4A7073a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7078a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7102a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7111a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7115 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7121a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7135a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

[Tdgraves]

Day 10: evening drive

 

We went along to the Sweni dam and back, for a change it was sunny and 30 degrees. It was still windy and quiet though.

 

An illustration of how tall the grass was!

 

7T4A7147a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7149a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7166a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

there were lots of large flocks of quelea this trip, feasting on the grass

 

7T4A7175a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7183a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Our first BBJ of the trip

 

7T4A7197a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7214a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7222a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back for a braai...

[Tdgraves]

Day 11: Satara morning drive, part 1

 

Today the weather had reverted to type, cooler and cloudy, 21 to start only reaching 25 degrees. There was intermittent rain. We did the S100, S41, S90 loop and due to what transpired, I'll split it up, for ease of posting and viewing.

 

First up, a hyaena going back to the den

 

J19A4271a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4279a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4284a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4287a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4295a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4299a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4301a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We were almost to the end of the S100 and there was no one (human or beast) about when we saw this...

 

J19A4311a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4319a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4331a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

A mother and two cubs. It had been 8 days since we had last seen lion. With luck, instead of moving off into the tall grass, they went into a lookout point, giving us space to manoeuvre as necessary

 

J19A4334a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4361a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Another vehicle soon joined us, but left after only a couple of minutes, so we had the sighting to ourselves

 

J19A4381a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4390a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4399a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

The reason that they had chosen that spot soon became apparent - they wanted a drink

 

J19A4405a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4423a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4434a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4468a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4483a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

and then back up again

 

J19A4489a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4505a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4534a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4565a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4573a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4577a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4593a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4605a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4608a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Then it was time for a rest

 

J19A4639a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4645a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4649a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4659a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4661a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4671a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

although the cubs took some persuading

 

J19A4686a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4712 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4715 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We thought that we would leave them to it. TBC...

 

[Tdgraves]

Day 11: Satara morning drive, part 2

 

No sooner had we turned onto the S41, than we found the rest of the pride with a few vehicles. They were mainly lounging around and to our surprise a couple of the cars moved off, giving us a good view and manoeuvrability, which was useful as it did not take long for them to activate.

 

J19A4722 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4727 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4734 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4743 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4760 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4765 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4775 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

They carried on in a straight line off of the road

 

J19A4785 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4799 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

straight towards a rhino, who it appeared, had right of way

 

J19A4803 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4807 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4815 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4828 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

As the road bent on an almost 90 degree angle, I had a feeling that they would reappear and cross the road further on, so we carried on and stopped on where I thought they would appear. It seemed I was right, as there was a mating pair of lions already there. with another vehicle

 

J19A4830 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4836 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4846 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

and soon another male appeared, unfortunately the action was behind a bush - this is what the OH managed (I was on the wrong side of the car)
 

7T4A7482a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7480a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

and the lone male retreated, followed by the pair. All the other vehicles bar one moved off, leaving us with the rest of the pride walking straight towards us...

 

J19A4863 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4868 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4875 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4884 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4888 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4891 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4897 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4902a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4911 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4914 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4921 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4937 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4955 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4957 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4977 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4982 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Then the teenagers decided it was time to play...

 

J19A4993 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A4998 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5000 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5034 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5038 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5041 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5079 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5106 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5117 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5188a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5186a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5211a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5225a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5244a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5261a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5303a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5316a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5366a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5403a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5408a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5415a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5448a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5465a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

The sighting lasted 50 minutes

 

TBC...

Edited September 8, 2022 by Tdgraves
typo

[Tdgraves]

Day 11: Satara morning drive, part 3

 

After that excitement, the rest of the drive was pretty mundane, although we saw another two black-backed jackals, otherwise it was birds

 

J19A5490a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5491a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5494a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5502a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5506a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5508a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5540a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5545a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5550a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5559a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back to camp for a well-earnt brunch!

[Tdgraves]

Day 11: Satara, evening drive

 

It was 30 degrees and cloudy, we did a loop of the S12 and S40 and it was largely quiet

 

J19A5575a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5583a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5595a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5597a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5604a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5608a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

J19A5619a by tdgraves, on Flickr

As we joined the tar road, there was an OSV pulled over, they looked like they were having a drink, although we did peer in to see if there was anything there and failed. We drove a few metres along to the dam which was quiet and then back towards the OSV. By this time another vehicle had stopped. There had been a leopard in the tree right next to the road and we had missed it 

 

J19A5630a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

As we got to the T-junction to the camp road, there was a bit of a Kruger traffic jam. Three male lions had decided to have a nap. There was very little time before the gates closed and as they looked set for the duration we crawled past in the middle space left in the road and back to camp.

 

7T4A7764a by tdgraves, on Flickr

[Tdgraves]

Day 12: Satara morning drive

 

It was again cool and cloudy with light rain. We went along the S100 and then south on the S41 and back along the H6. It was 23 increasing to 28 degrees.

 

7T4A7769 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7773 by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7780a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

We did this loop fairly quickly and so went along to the dam before returning to camp and immediately encountered yet another musth ele. This was a bit better behaved and soon left the main road. Were rewarded for our perseverance with this white headed vulture

 

J19A5643a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7798a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

Back to camp to pack up and check out - supervised by this guy!

 

7T4A7807a by tdgraves, on Flickr

Edited September 8, 2022 by Tdgraves
typo

[Tdgraves]

Day 12: Transfer to Letaba

 

We packed up and had breakfast at the Cattle Baron. When we left, you guessed it, it was cloudy with some rain. There was really not much to stop for at all. A few kms before Letaba there was a parked vehicle and we just saw the back end of two female lions disappearing into the bush. Once we had checked in and unopacked, I had a brief walk around camp, where I found this little sparrowhawk

 

7T4A7849a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7853a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

7T4A7862a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

This waterbuck was surprised to see a human on the other side of the fence

 

7T4A7830a by tdgraves, on Flickr

 

But I had to cut short the walk as a huge thunderstorm blew over.